Thanks Flan, indeed taking time composing was one of my motivations for trying film and I did try to take my time with each shot on the roll, though of course not all came out quite how I wanted, that's life I suppose. I was actually just glad that I managed to load the film correctly, that the camera was fully functional and that I was able to get it developed relatively easily.

I repeated some scans and added a couple of extra shots with the Epson V330 flatbed scanner. The first attempt with the flatbed was a disaster with just a snowstorm of white dust dots. I cleaned the negatives, didn't help. Cleaned the glass, didn't help. Finally I took the scanner apart and cleaned the underside of the glass, bingo!

Firstly the extra ones:
#11

[/url]Merging of dog with rug by d00d0c, on Flickr]link

#12

[/url]Disappearing Dog Butt by d00d0c, on Flickr]link


and the rest scanned with the Epson flatbed scanner

#4 repeated with Epson V330

[/url]Kenny in B&W by d00d0c, on Flickr]link

#6 repeated with Epson V330 and rotated

[/url]Climbing up the wall by d00d0c, on Flickr]link

#7 repeated with Epson V330

[/url]Euphonium by d00d0c, on Flickr]link

#8 repeated with Epson V330

[/url]Glamour dog by d00d0c, on Flickr]link

#9 repeated with Epson V330

[/url]Sleepy sausage by d00d0c, on Flickr]link

As someone who came to the Pentax SLR world with a K10D as my first SLR, I thought it'd be interesting to give film photography a go. I just got back my first roll of film from the local drugstore and have scanned in a few of the shots to share. All were taken with a Spotmatic using Agfa APX 400 film, mostly if not all with the 55/1.8 'kit' Super-Takumar lens. These were scanned with a cheap standalone negative/film which I think is good for an initial viewing but maybe doesn't get the best out of the negatives. I may also try some on my Epson V330 flatbed scanner or send them off for scanning. The meter in the Spotmatic seems to have held up pretty well, I used it exclusively to determine the exposure for these shots. I gave most of them a small contrast boost and a little bit of sharpening in PP.

#1

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#2

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#3

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#4

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#5

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#6 (taken hanging over a wall!)

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#7

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#8

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#9

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

#10

[/url]B&W Film Nr 1 by d00d0c, auf Flickr]link

C&C welcome, as well as advice on scanning or anything else really!

Thanks for posting these. Brave souls out enjoying the conditions!

I particularity like Nr.5, the colours are superb, especially against the water splash.

Has anyone got one of these surplus to requirements and would be willing to ship to Germany?

I‘m specifically looking for the M version as I plan to use with an MX.

Great idea, I‘m sure someone will be very happy with this. Credit to you both!

Excellent!

Talk about playing the long game. It was well worth the effort though.

Excellent, thanks so much for describing the process. Looks like it was well worth the effort at adapting these vintage lenses.

Nice stuff, I’m a bit surprised it’s still searching for a new home.

Without totally hijacking the thread, I’d like to say a couple of quick words about the SPOTMATIC and 28mm/f2. I recently ended up with the same combo as a result of separate purchases so I’ll answer my own question about the metering since I’ve now had a chance to play about with it a bit and in case it is of any interest to other film newbies.

For someone who only ever had a point and shoot film camera and who’s first SLR was a DSLR, it’s actually quite easy to use a SPOTMATIC. Apart from the meter, which I’ll come to, the rest is fully mechanical and a pleasure to use. I think of it like operating in M mode on my DSLR with the aperture set using the aperture ring and shutter speed on the dial. I find focussing is fine, of course even better with a fast lens. Film ASA is used for metering and set very easily with the shutter dial. There are a couple of things I had to get used to with the metering.

It took a bit of searching to find a battery, in the end I got a 387s on eBay for less than 5€ which is a good fit and although slightly higher voltage than the old mercury cell it seems to give plausible readings when compared with my DSLR and iPhone app. I believe I will be able to use another cheaper battery once that one goes, I just have to transfer the washer/ring to another type. There is some speculation that the SPOTMATIC has a bridge circuit which assists to limit the meter voltage, independent of the exact battery voltage. I can’t confirm this but basically the meter is more than usable with as it is on mine so seems possible.

To operate the meter, you just have to push the meter switch upwards which also gives a DOF preview by stopping the lens down. The meter reading is displayed with a needle in the viewfinder which shows the effect of manually changing aperture/shutter in real-time. Obviously there’s no auto exposure mode but that’s just fine by me. The net result is that it’s pretty straightforward to find the correct exposure with a manual decision about whether to change aperture, shutter or both.

I keep an eye on the meter switch after firing the shutter. I think it should automatically switch off but this seems a bit unreliable on mine so I check it’s off after firing the shutter to prevent emptying the meter battery.

One hint, m42 lenses without the auto/manual switch will also work but the ones with auto/manual are slightly easier to use. With manual lenses, I tend to focus fully open then move the aperture ring whilst metering, with ‘auto’ lenses the aperture can also be set to the desired value before focussing but the lens is only stopped down whilst metering is active.

For experienced film users I’m sure a lot of this was obvious already and may even seem odd to think of things coming from a digital perspective.

The 28mm is a nice match for the SPOTMATIC, the f2 really helps for focussing and it also works nicely with a DSLR so this package is really a 2-in-1 deal.

Nice write-up and test shots. I‘ve seen a few of those advertised here in Germany and wondered what they‘re about. The colours in No. 2 really pop for me.

I‘d be really interested in seeing some pictures of the mount and how you adapted it if you have the time and inclination to share!

You could sell these shots to Ricoh/Pentax or a camera shop!

The lenses themselves are the very pinnacle of deisgn. Aesthetically pleasing, beautifully crafted and with expectional functionality.